Normal is weird.

To us, “Normal is weird.” Brewing beers the same way every one else does it is . . . well, it’s just plain weird. Our brewery is here for the growing Confederacy of Ontario Craft Beer Lovers who enjoy beer for beer’s sake, are looking for authentic new things to try, and who want to support free-thinking independent brewers.

Radical Beers
& Creative Ales.

The Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery leads the Craft Beer Revolution in Ontario. Brewing radical Beers and creative Ales right on the waterfront in downtown Barrie since 2004, the Flying Monkeys was the first Ontario Craft Brewery to truly recognize the need to overthrow the conservative regime of macro-brews and timid small batch taste-a-likes and create a new Culture of Craft Brewing in our province.

Casting off the comfortable and respectable cloak of the Robert Simpson Brewing Company, and revealing our true selves as the Flying Monkeys late in 2008, we gave rise to the the collective creativity of our Brewery and committed our Brewhouse to the adventurous longings of the growing culture of Craft Beer Lovers in Ontario.

Brew Fearlessly.

Our mandate: Brew Fearlessly. There comes a scary day in every good Craft Brewery’s existence where you give the criticizing eyes that look over your shoulder the finger, and you follow those undeniable instincts that drove you to become a Craft Brewer in the first place. And then, well, that’s when the real story begins…

We All Started As Home Brewers.

In a dorm room, in a garage, in a basement, in a kitchen – we all started as Beer Hackers brewing for cheapness, utility, and curiosity. Flying Monkeys’ Founder, Peter Chiodo, learned home brewing as a little boy in Gramp’s Etobicoke basement. Mining his skill as a broke university student in Alabama and even broker grad student in Mississippi, our Peter honed his talents and learned to respect beer brewed with hands (not machines). And his passion for local, fresh craft beer grew.

Any Craft Brewer worth anything started somewhere as a Home Brewer. We learned the craft, we followed the curve, we invested our All. If a Craft Brewery started solely as a name, a brand, or a business plan, then shame on them. Marketing is not Brewing.